Like this:

Ok, so maybe every single person with an interwebs connection has seen one or more clips from the BBC show Walk on the Wild Side already, but I personally can’t stop watching them.

I’ve always had a serious preference for British humor, so much so that I tend to consider Monty Python to be in a class all by itself, above and beyond anything else I’ve seen. And, there are certainly generous helpings of Pythonesque surrealism and absurdism at play in these voiceovers.

Something I didn’t know is that a total of 14 30-minute episodes of Walk on the Wild Side were produced, which explains why there are literally thousands of clips available on YouTube, offering hours of procrastinating fun!

So, I thought it would be cool to take a look and listen at both of the versions back-to-back and see how they measure up.

First up, The Shins:

Vodpod videos no longer available.

That’s an honorable performance for sure. First and foremost, it’s extremely loyal to the original, closely matching the arrangement and atmospherics, the tone and tempo, and the musicianship is first rate. Certainly no easy task!

And yet, I’ll be honest, it left me a little cold, left me wanting a fresher take on the song, something with some twists and variations, something that might put The Shins stamp on it.

Well, let’s see what The Flaming Lips do with the same song:

Now THAT’S what I’m talking about!

How incredibly exciting to have a beloved classic given a kick in the ass, pumped up from a sleepy space tune into a primal, jungle drum and feedback-driven freakout!

Let me be clear. I like The Shins a lot and I don’t in any way mean to dismiss them as a band.

That said, in my humble opinion, The Flaming Lips clearly won this Battle of the Cover Song by a long shot.

Like this:

It’s an epic story of an ancient form of communication (messages in bottles date back to 310 BC!) that has endured despite the Internet, a form of communication that, thanks to one man’s determination, has proven incredibly effective, connecting him to people all across the world.

A Canadian man has tossed more than 4,800 messages in a bottle into the Atlantic Ocean in the past 15 years — and received more than 3,100 replies.

Harold Hackett, who lives in Tignish, Prince Edward Island, the smallest province in Canada that hugs the Atlantic coastline, told his story to the BBC.

He uses discarded juice containers to hold his letters, dates each one and asks the finder of the bottle to respond…

He started the hobby in May 1996 and since has received responses from Russia, Iceland, Holland, the U.K., Florida and even Africa and the Bahamas, wherever the wind and tide go…

Hackett said he sends as many as 200 bottles off every week. He doesn’t think he’ll ever stop.

Now, do yourself a favor and don’t read the comments left by MSNBC readers. It’ll just be depressing, how cynical people can be, either with their inability to feel the sweetness of this story, or with their ridiculous claims that Harold should be prosecuted as a polluter. (Regarding the latter, to use an apt metaphor, let’s just say there are MUCH bigger fish to fry!)

Harold’s simple wish is to feel connected to people outside his isolated island home, and the success he’s had, it seems to me, has as much to do with the power of the tides and currents as it has to do with Harold sending out positive energy and attracting it in return.

“I never dreamt I’d get that many back that quick,” Hackett said, emphasizing that the responders have become more than one-time pen pals.

“I usually get about a 150 Christmas cards, Christmas gifts, souvenirs,” Hacket said in a video posted on the BBC website. “I just love doing it the old way. The reason I won’t put my phone number on my letters is they’d all call me back, and I wouldn’t get any letters.”